I don't know why but I think it's the heat, but whenever I try to grow something, it eventually dies! Fresh fruits and veggies are thus cheaper to just to buy them rather than grow them. Eventually, I feel that I spend more on fertilizer and water than if I just buy them from the supermarket! All my plants eventually die on me, so I've given up!

Mmmmm...homemade salsa! I love it fresh as well as cooked. I'm inspired to make some after reading these posts. Maybe I'll make some homemade spaghetti/pizza sauce too. I like to oven roast the tomatoes (slice them up, sprinkle with garlic and bake them until squishy) before putting them in a pot on the stove. I like smooth sauces without tomato chunks, so the immersion blender comes into play as well...

I've never tried dehydrating any tomatoes, but that's a great idea.

I am currently in the process of dehydrating all the extra apples off of my apple tree. I just core/slice them, dip in Vit C solution to prevent browning, sprinkle with cinnamon (no sugar, just cinnamon) and turn on the dehydrator. I leave on the skin because it's so tasty and filled with nutrients.

take the dried tomatoes 1 step further and pulverize into a powder in a grinder, then sift out seeds and rinds, store in air tight spice jar to sprinkle on or add some tbsps to cooking in the off season for extra flavor and nutrition and color (think intensifying tomato soups/stews, sprinkling on salads/deviled eggs, etc)

I use the food from my garden every day; tomatoes cuc's and peppers for salads and snacks, zucchini to make zuchini boats, zuchini pies; we grill our veggies; I make stuffed peppers, eggplant dishes, green beans as in stew, baked or steamed...I have a good amount canned and frozen already but there is still more to prepare for winter.

I love making salsa too, and I make it often with the fresh chiles and tomatoes we get at a local u-pick farm. Another favorite is tomato pie. There are many recipes on the internet for this. I think I'll make one today!

When I had a really prolific tomato garden I was getting a couple big grocery shopping bags full every couple days. Apart from giving some away, I sold some, made lots of tomato sauce and chutney, and also put the tomatoes into the freezer as is - i.e. whole. They are free-flow and then you can take them out and use them in meals in the off-season. Also, if you have a dehydrator, what about dried tomatoes as well, or tomato leather strips, OR add some other veges and/or fruit to the mix and made fruit & vege leather strips?

How about stuffed baked tomatoes ? I love stuffed tomatoes. that's something you could do with all those yummy tomatoes. Tomato soup or gazpacho is another yummy option. I love garden fresh tomatoes....

FAITHP44
Posts:
8,583
9/9/13 2:47 P

Oooh I don't do clever things like that! I've got tomatoes, raspberries, plums (at last - really late this year!), marrows (I think you call them summer squash?), runner beans, and sweetcorn at present. I did also have French beans and broad (fava) beans. Oh and I have cooking apples too. You'd be surprised how small my garden is with all that growing in it. I use a lot, give some away and have been selling some at Church to raise money towards a children's project in Brazil.

Hi my name is Diane and I have 3 gardens that keep me BUSY. I was out of town last week and when I came home my tomatoes were coming in (Finally) and now is the time to start making and canning salsa and Spaghetti sauce. Salsa is so fabulous as it has few calories and so versatile to use on anything to spice things up

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